Times Square explosion echoes attacks on consulates in New York

NEW YORK -- The British Consulate in 2005. The Mexican Consulate last year. And Thursday, the Times Square military-recruiting station.

Three bombings with similar devices at three high-profile locations in Manhattan, each occurring at nearly the same time, in the pre-dawn hours; each inflicting little damage; none injuring people.

And in each case, someone -- most likely a man -- seen pedaling away on a bicycle with a hooded jacket or sweat shirt hiding his face.

These are the similarities that police detectives and federal agents are exploring as they investigate whether these blasts, so seemingly similar, were the work of the same person or group, and what the motive was.

Law-enforcement officials stopped short Thursday of definitively linking the explosions -- or of trying to divine the significance of the latest, more visible target: the island at the center of Times Square.

At a news conference, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly played a surveillance tape that showed the blast occurring at 3:40:43 a.m., although police think it was closer to 3:43.

The May 5, 2005, bombing at the British Consulate on Third Avenue occurred at 3:55 a.m.; the bombing Oct. 26 at the Mexican Consulate on East 39th Street was at 3:40 a.m.

The device used Thursday was "roughly similar" to those in the two earlier bombings, Kelly said. No one has claimed responsibility for the earlier explosions, another similarity.

Late Thursday, the authorities were investigating letters received by members of Congress with pictures taken before the blast of someone in front of the recruiting station with the words "We Did It."

The use of a bicycle, the early-morning hours of the attacks and the improvised nature of the devices, as well as the low-grade explosive, suggest the perpetrator might be a young person who is more focused on sending a message than hurting anyone, said Ray Pierce, a retired New York City detective who works as a criminal profiler.